'Something Special in the AA Air'? No More
Jul 18, 2003, 8:23 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Dallas, Texas, USA
Programs: AA EXP, 3.1 Million AA Miles, Hilton Diamond, *wood Gold
Posts: 245
'Something Special in the AA Air'? No More
Talk about disfunctional customer service. Read this article By Tom Steinert-Threlkeld.
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/...1190536,00.asp
Here is part of the article.
"On this particular night, a woman I will name Charlene answered the call at AA.
She was clearly exasperated even at the outset. She complained that her computer often copped an attitude; unfortunately, sometimes she would, too. So would you.
To make these itineraries happen, Charlene clearly had to write down on a piece of paper my AAdvantage program number, my name (no easy task), my credit card number (16 numerals and an expiration date), and my home address.
I could tell her exactly the flight numbers, dates and times for each leg of each itinerary. Yet, setting up each trip took scores of lookups and tapped instructions—a lot more than if I had handled this myself on the Web site.
The most frustrating part was the fact that Charlene had to enter all my personal information separately, each time for each itinerary. The systems in front of her couldn't draw the data from American's AA.com Web site, where it is already stored, or, even from her previous entries.
So Charlene would enter the name and credit card number each time. Naturally, she will misspell my name more than once, and find American's system won't accept my hyphen. She also will flub the credit card number at least once.
Nevertheless, she bends the system to her will. I should get confirmations by e-mail that night.
But something goes awry. Only two out of three confirmations arrive.
So when I call back 24 hours later, Susan informs me that the third itinerary was never paid for—despite what Charlene had said. Thankfully, Susan only has to wade through this one itinerary, taking my credit card number yet again.
Once again, however, no confirmation arrives.
At 5 a.m. the next day, Casey checks things out. She finds out a confirmation can't be sent out for days. Days.
Why? Charlene had put her requests for confirmation through an automated system. A machine responded within three hours. Susan, by contrast, put my request in a queue for human handling. The humans were only up to itineraries through June 9. The first day of this itinerary was July 25.
American clearly is trying to drive more and more customers to make their own flight arrangements on the Web. It even rewards them with 1,000 bonus award miles for each reservation executed online.
This is not the way to do it. You shouldn't be driving Charlene, Susan and Casey out of jobs by hamstringing them with antiquated and inept systems.
You shouldn't be driving customers away, either. Next time, I'll just use the Web, even for complicated reservations.
But if I'm just choosing between one Web page or another to make a reservation, I will be wholly impersonal about my choices.
And it won't matter what airline name is atop the screen."
[This message has been edited by Brandy (edited 07-18-2003).]
http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/...1190536,00.asp
Here is part of the article.
"On this particular night, a woman I will name Charlene answered the call at AA.
She was clearly exasperated even at the outset. She complained that her computer often copped an attitude; unfortunately, sometimes she would, too. So would you.
To make these itineraries happen, Charlene clearly had to write down on a piece of paper my AAdvantage program number, my name (no easy task), my credit card number (16 numerals and an expiration date), and my home address.
I could tell her exactly the flight numbers, dates and times for each leg of each itinerary. Yet, setting up each trip took scores of lookups and tapped instructions—a lot more than if I had handled this myself on the Web site.
The most frustrating part was the fact that Charlene had to enter all my personal information separately, each time for each itinerary. The systems in front of her couldn't draw the data from American's AA.com Web site, where it is already stored, or, even from her previous entries.
So Charlene would enter the name and credit card number each time. Naturally, she will misspell my name more than once, and find American's system won't accept my hyphen. She also will flub the credit card number at least once.
Nevertheless, she bends the system to her will. I should get confirmations by e-mail that night.
But something goes awry. Only two out of three confirmations arrive.
So when I call back 24 hours later, Susan informs me that the third itinerary was never paid for—despite what Charlene had said. Thankfully, Susan only has to wade through this one itinerary, taking my credit card number yet again.
Once again, however, no confirmation arrives.
At 5 a.m. the next day, Casey checks things out. She finds out a confirmation can't be sent out for days. Days.
Why? Charlene had put her requests for confirmation through an automated system. A machine responded within three hours. Susan, by contrast, put my request in a queue for human handling. The humans were only up to itineraries through June 9. The first day of this itinerary was July 25.
American clearly is trying to drive more and more customers to make their own flight arrangements on the Web. It even rewards them with 1,000 bonus award miles for each reservation executed online.
This is not the way to do it. You shouldn't be driving Charlene, Susan and Casey out of jobs by hamstringing them with antiquated and inept systems.
You shouldn't be driving customers away, either. Next time, I'll just use the Web, even for complicated reservations.
But if I'm just choosing between one Web page or another to make a reservation, I will be wholly impersonal about my choices.
And it won't matter what airline name is atop the screen."
[This message has been edited by Brandy (edited 07-18-2003).]
Jul 18, 2003, 8:31 am
#2
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: LAX; AA EXP, MM; HH Gold
Posts: 31,789
This was posted yesterday. What a stupid whiner. He works for an IT rag yet called the 800 number to make some reservations? What a jerk.
Please see also:
www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/017321.html
[This message has been edited by FWAAA (edited 07-18-2003).]
Please see also:
www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum71/HTML/017321.html
[This message has been edited by FWAAA (edited 07-18-2003).]
Jul 18, 2003, 8:37 am
#3
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Posts: 37
This is why the media in this country stinks. Any idiot with a personal agenda can write something that is wrong and get away with it. Does anyone know of a better system?
Jul 18, 2003, 8:45 am
#4
Suspended
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: AA EXP, 1 MM and CX RULES!!
Posts: 1,341
It's actually any "hand-shaking" idiot in the media. Many media doors are closed and conglomerated so they can get away with it
But, not on FT as our posts demonstrate for the world to read!
And I don't think the media will be getting away with it for long....they have a bubble just like the dot.coms, just a little more stretched out (started in 1996, not too long ago).
But, not on FT as our posts demonstrate for the world to read!
And I don't think the media will be getting away with it for long....they have a bubble just like the dot.coms, just a little more stretched out (started in 1996, not too long ago).
Jul 18, 2003, 9:01 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,748
I am not sure why people are against this article. This is not an inaccurate description of AA's antiquated IT system (perhaps not very typical but nevertheless real at times). Anyone that has done a few international miles upgrades will vouch for this.
Jul 18, 2003, 9:34 am
#6
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Rolling Lakes Yacht Club
Posts: 4,985
Venk-
Both articles are very inacurate overviews of AA's IT infrastructure. To the layman, it looks like there is really trouble with how data is processed. If these authors actually had experience with TPF systems, they would understand why you choose different systems on the front end. I have done work for a major travel website. While I cannot devuldge many technical details, I will say both articles are crap.
It doesn't take a genious to figure out the modus apprendi here. Lets look at a typical "free" trade rag..... Page 2 and 3 full page microsoft ad, page 4 full page Dell ad, page 12 full page Unix ad. Page 10 article about what a dinosaur a mainframe is and how this new wintel or unix front end are superior to a IBM TPF system. When in fact front end (aa.com, or whatever) is merely a way to funnel transactions into the mainframe.
[This message has been edited by DataPlumber (edited 07-18-2003).]
Both articles are very inacurate overviews of AA's IT infrastructure. To the layman, it looks like there is really trouble with how data is processed. If these authors actually had experience with TPF systems, they would understand why you choose different systems on the front end. I have done work for a major travel website. While I cannot devuldge many technical details, I will say both articles are crap.
It doesn't take a genious to figure out the modus apprendi here. Lets look at a typical "free" trade rag..... Page 2 and 3 full page microsoft ad, page 4 full page Dell ad, page 12 full page Unix ad. Page 10 article about what a dinosaur a mainframe is and how this new wintel or unix front end are superior to a IBM TPF system. When in fact front end (aa.com, or whatever) is merely a way to funnel transactions into the mainframe.
[This message has been edited by DataPlumber (edited 07-18-2003).]
Jul 18, 2003, 9:49 am
#7
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,748
What you may know or saying here may not be inconsistent with what has been said in the article. There may be perfectly valid technical reasons why Charlene had to write the name, etc, down. It could have been a temporary unavailability of certain systems or it could have been lack of inter-operability between multiple systems. You may know exactly the reason for this. But from a customer-facing point of view, the result is an inefficient IT system available to the reservation desk possibly combined with a lack of good training (which usually has roots in a complicated system to start with).
Like I said, if you have done enough international miles upgrades especially at the last minute like I have, you literally hear the huge number of clicks as they have to move things around, tell me the computer is not responding at the moment and that they will get back to me, ask me for the e-mail address so they can mail a confirmation because aa.com is unable to show the upgrade and the e-mail never arrives because they invariably write the .net at the end of my e-mail address as .com, etc. These are all real problems and can be pointed as the result of an antiquated system without knowing the technical details behind it.
Like I said, if you have done enough international miles upgrades especially at the last minute like I have, you literally hear the huge number of clicks as they have to move things around, tell me the computer is not responding at the moment and that they will get back to me, ask me for the e-mail address so they can mail a confirmation because aa.com is unable to show the upgrade and the e-mail never arrives because they invariably write the .net at the end of my e-mail address as .com, etc. These are all real problems and can be pointed as the result of an antiquated system without knowing the technical details behind it.
Jul 18, 2003, 10:14 am
#8
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Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Wherever Oxfam wants me to go.
Posts: 3,966
This was his response:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
since my son was going out earlier than i; and we would coming back at same time, i wanted to make sure that we matched up seats on the way back
flying a few miles myself, that's the kind of thing that proves problematic; so i wanted to communicate with a human being
happy flying; and it's good to know you never need or want human contact
TST
</font>
since my son was going out earlier than i; and we would coming back at same time, i wanted to make sure that we matched up seats on the way back
flying a few miles myself, that's the kind of thing that proves problematic; so i wanted to communicate with a human being
happy flying; and it's good to know you never need or want human contact
TST
</font>
Jul 18, 2003, 11:17 am
#9
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Cincinnati, OH
Posts: 99
I'm not an IT expert, so I can't comment on the logic of different front-end and back-end systems, but I am a businessman, so I do feel qualified to comment on customer service. I also am a customer (of AA), so I also feel qualified to comment on the front-end or customer interface aspect of their IT infrastructure. I think it's terrible.
People have already commented on difficulty with upgrades. I have given AA my current address over 10 times, and it never gets updated (i think because it's stored in several different places). They always need to ask me for my email address when sending e-confirmations, even though it's in my AA.com account and I've given it to them probably 100 times. I can't upgrade a companion with my electronic upgrades when checking in at the kiosks, even though I always get herded to the kiosks by agents who refuse to believe the kiosk is not going to successfully check us in. Finally, when travelling on AAirpass, which should be the easiest thing to use from an IT standpoint since it's essentially a debit card, I have 3 times almost missed a flight because the agent didn't know how to process it and I also have to fight to the the AAdvantage miles due to me if travelling on AAirpass with a companion.
In summary, the IT system at AA sucks. I don't know why they haven't fixed it. But then again, I don't know why their planes are filthy and they make major changes to partner Award programs with one month's notice.
People have already commented on difficulty with upgrades. I have given AA my current address over 10 times, and it never gets updated (i think because it's stored in several different places). They always need to ask me for my email address when sending e-confirmations, even though it's in my AA.com account and I've given it to them probably 100 times. I can't upgrade a companion with my electronic upgrades when checking in at the kiosks, even though I always get herded to the kiosks by agents who refuse to believe the kiosk is not going to successfully check us in. Finally, when travelling on AAirpass, which should be the easiest thing to use from an IT standpoint since it's essentially a debit card, I have 3 times almost missed a flight because the agent didn't know how to process it and I also have to fight to the the AAdvantage miles due to me if travelling on AAirpass with a companion.
In summary, the IT system at AA sucks. I don't know why they haven't fixed it. But then again, I don't know why their planes are filthy and they make major changes to partner Award programs with one month's notice.
Jul 18, 2003, 7:44 pm
#10
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: London (and Cayman Islands)
Programs: AA 3MM
Posts: 810
Speaking as someone who has done the international mileage upgrade lots of times and am an IT specialist..yup, IT has some terrible IT systems.
Without good IT, modern business goes nowhere....but as the major air carriers are so rooted in old systems....IT will be the overwhelming reason why they ultimately fail and get swept away by the new low cost carriers that were fortunate enough to start up with all new technology.
One exception would be BA...rather than bury their head in the sand and ignore EasyJet / RyanAir, they have embarked on a massive transformation which is IT driven...sorry, can't find the link, but a great link on the BA board a few months back (March 03) was an analysts presentation by John Mornement, head of IT at BA.....quite a revelation.
Without good IT, modern business goes nowhere....but as the major air carriers are so rooted in old systems....IT will be the overwhelming reason why they ultimately fail and get swept away by the new low cost carriers that were fortunate enough to start up with all new technology.
One exception would be BA...rather than bury their head in the sand and ignore EasyJet / RyanAir, they have embarked on a massive transformation which is IT driven...sorry, can't find the link, but a great link on the BA board a few months back (March 03) was an analysts presentation by John Mornement, head of IT at BA.....quite a revelation.
Jul 18, 2003, 8:19 pm
#11
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 63,610
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by TomCayman:
Without good IT, modern business goes nowhere....but as the major air carriers are so rooted in old systems....IT will be the overwhelming reason why they ultimately fail and get swept away by the new low cost carriers that were fortunate enough to start up with all new technology.</font>
Without good IT, modern business goes nowhere....but as the major air carriers are so rooted in old systems....IT will be the overwhelming reason why they ultimately fail and get swept away by the new low cost carriers that were fortunate enough to start up with all new technology.</font>
Good infrastructure won't make for a successful business - it'll just keep you from failing due to the lack of infrastructure.
Webvan had one of the most amazingly well-crafted IT and warehouse infrastructure in the world. They also had a business plan which made no practical sense what so ever.
Good IT operations can enhance a good business, but it won't paper over a bad business plan.
Jul 18, 2003, 8:51 pm
#12
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,748
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Plato90s:
I work in IT as well, but I disagree.
Good infrastructure won't make for a successful business - it'll just keep you from failing due to the lack of infrastructure.
</font>
I work in IT as well, but I disagree.
Good infrastructure won't make for a successful business - it'll just keep you from failing due to the lack of infrastructure.
</font>
Jul 18, 2003, 9:17 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Arizona AA Exp Plat
Posts: 29
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by venk:
I am not sure why people are against this article. This is not an inaccurate description of AA's antiquated IT system (perhaps not very typical but nevertheless real at times). Anyone that has done a few international miles upgrades will vouch for this.</font>
I am not sure why people are against this article. This is not an inaccurate description of AA's antiquated IT system (perhaps not very typical but nevertheless real at times). Anyone that has done a few international miles upgrades will vouch for this.</font>
Well it did take 30 minutes, and two agents at Narita to do a miles upgrade recently. The second agent had to manually enter all my information even though I was on a return trip of my itinerary. I was surprised.
Ron
Jul 18, 2003, 9:49 pm
#14
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: CT
Posts: 34
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by eye on american:
They always need to ask me for my email address when sending e-confirmations, even though it's in my AA.com account and I've given it to them probably 100 times. </font>
They always need to ask me for my email address when sending e-confirmations, even though it's in my AA.com account and I've given it to them probably 100 times. </font>
Jul 18, 2003, 9:52 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: CT
Posts: 34
Also, I emailed them about the article and they possibly want to print my rebuttal. lol